The removal of sulfur containing compounds from petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel oil and jet fuel is an important part of the petroleum refining industry. Most sulfur containing compounds are removed by dehydrosulfurization (HDS) where H2 gas is used to form hydrocarbons and H2S.1 Some sulfur containing compounds, in particular heteroaromatic sulfur derivatives such as dibenzothiophene and its alkylated derivatives are refractory towards HDS and require high reaction temperatures and pressures to be effective. Since environmental considerations and requirements mandate the removal of sulfur from fuels, so-called “deep” FIDS of refractory sulfur compounds is both difficult and expensive.
Thus, alternative “deep” desulfurization without H2, or high pressure or temperature is desirable and in recent years, other techniques have been suggested to remove sulfur-containing compounds from commercial fuels. Such alternative techniques include (1) the relatively facile catalytic oxidation of sulfides by hydrogen peroxide or organic hydroperoxides such as tert-butylhydroperoxide to yield sulfones.2,3 Numerous homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts have been described in the literature for this reaction. The sulfones formed then need be removed from the fuel product by extraction, distillation, decomposition or adsorption. This approach is problematic since organic hydroperoxides are expensive and the use of hydrogen peroxide implies working with water that then requires careful drying of the fuel. Other approaches are (2) selective adsorption of refractory sulfides over solids such as Cu(I)—Y Zeolite,4 or S Zorb SRT5; (3) selective extraction for example, using ionic liquids;6 (4) biodesulfurization; and (5) photooxidation.7 
There remains an unmet need for efficient methods for removing sulfide products from hydrocarbons, especially from petroleum products such as gasoline, fuel oils and the like.